Monday, August 30, 2010

Coca-Cola promotes drink with 'swastika' robots

A Coca-Cola promotion in Hong Kong featuring a robot adorned with 'swastikas' has been condemned.Rabbi Yakkov Kermaier, of Ohel Leah Synagogue, says it is probably an honest mistake, but he's called toy sets featuring the "Robocon" characters unacceptable.One character, the robot-like "Robowaru," has two swastikas on its chest and can be bought in the UK for around £2.60 with any purchase of six bottles of Coke.The figurines stand on small plastic pedestals with Coca-Cola logos on them."It's not simply a politically incorrect symbol," Rabbi Kermaier said. "It's an emblem that represents the wholesale slaughter of six million Jews."Rabbi Kermaier acknowledged the Nazi swastika can easily be confused with Buddhist swastikas that are common in Asia. The two symbols are close to being reverse images of one another, with the arms pointing in opposite directions.Coca-Cola says the figurines were made according to the original Robowaru design, but a spokeswoman declined any other immediate comment.Animation International, which sells rights for Robocon and worked with Coca-Cola on the toys, says the symbols were designed by the creator and "did not have anything to do with any organisation or religion."

The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit svastika(in ancient India, in Devanagari, स्वस्तिक), meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a markmade on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of su- (cognate with Greek ευ-, "eu-"), meaning "good, well" and asti a verbal abstract to the root as "to be"; svasti thus means "well-being". The suffix -ka forms a diminutive, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "little thing associated with well-being".

The swastika symbol is one of the oldest symbols on the Earth and can be found in all religions and traditions, on all continents!http://www.proswastika.org/page.php?2

Used in Asian Countries to denote where Buddhist Temples are located:http://www.flickr.com/photos/59385051@N07/5435812352/